Thanks so much for the play by play. My mom had 2 c-sections, but of course, that was 30 and 25 years ago...so I know a lot of procedures have changed.

I do have a strange question...when is the placenta delivered? Do the doctors physically remove it before they sew you up-or do they sew you up and let you deliver it naturally? I worry about this mainly, because I had sever postpartum hemhorrage after my first baby-the medications, uterus massaging, and so forth did not work-and they had to do the emergency surgery. (Mainly because I had a big baby, large placenta, large bag of waters-and my uterus was WAYYY too stretched out...and then they made me push for 3+ hours before even talking about doing an assisted delivery or c-section as options.)

With my second, induced a month early, he was a *tad* bit smaller and I pushed him out a lot faster (because no drugs tends to give you more ammunition to do so, I guess. ) but they still had to do uterine massage to get it to start releasing and delivering quick enough to avoid that again.

aphil~they do take the placenta out right away. Right after the baby id delivered they girve you a shot of pitocin in the IV so the uterus starts contracting, and they can get the placenta out. My experience was pretty much the same as GBMM's.

THE only differences were, they prep your belly, so they shave it (I have very little hair anyway, so I was a little surprised) and wipe it down with Iodine. I also was put on a monitor for an hour before hand. I got to see the baby(s) as soon as they delivered them, but they took them and washed them and measured them, but brought the baby right back. I got to hold and nurse in the recovery room, the nurse sits with you and does her chart for about an hour. I have had staples, and steri strips with disolvable sutures I don't know which one I prefer...BUt my recovery from all three c-sections went really well, but we are hoping one day to do a VBAC, but it does not look good around here.

Quote GBMM
"They were very nice about it, of course, and explained everything, but having two nurses roll you to one side while they changed out the sheets on the table (&, I assume, took out the anesthesia; I'm not positive exactly when that happened, though) isn't exactly dignified."

The spinal is a shot, so there is not anestetic to come out, it just wears off on it's own. also make sure you stay laying down until it wears off, otherwise it can give you a nasty headache. and nothing about c-sectons is dignified, I have never been naked infront of so many people ever in my life!

Great play by plays of c/sections. I agree with every bit. And, yes, the placenta is manually removed before the uterus is closed.

I would encourage a VBAC. Sounds like you are a great candidate for it, and there are fewer complications than with a planned c/section. Good for you for gathering information, ad good for your doc for being supportive of this option. Best wishes for the birth, however the wee one makes his or her appearance. My practice has lots of successful VBACs.

Also, don't freak out if:
1)you feel slightly short of breath...this happened during my sister's c-sections...you really aren't short of breath but sometimes the numbing medicines make you feel that way because they are stronger than what you get for vaginal delivery
2)you feel cold (I was freezing, but they bring blankets from a dryer)
3)You shake (I shook like a leaf, I think from the meds.
4)You're nauseated (they gave me some finergan (sp?) and it knocked me out cold)
5)you notice your blood pressure drop...I was pretty sure the 40 on the bottom meant I was dying, but I'm still here.

I was REALLY out of it even though I was technically conscious. How out of it? Let's just say a male orderly (or nurse) said "she a big one...we gonna need help" and he is living to tell about it. DH was with DS because the neonatologist were making sure he hadn't gotten meconium into his lungs, so he was no help either.

Best advice I can give is DURING...DON'T LOOK UP! You may can handle seeing other people's guts, but yours are a different story entirely.

AFTER: Walk, walk, and walk some more.

The only meds I took at home were a few doses of equate ibuprofen. It really wasn't that bad, but I think a lot of that might depend on the skill of your doctor and how you deal with pain. I deal well with big pain, but a sore throat KILLS ME!

~Glad to know I am not the only one that happens to. They gave it to me a couple months ago, because my morning sickness was really severe and wasn't going away, so I took a dose and the next thing I knew-it was a few hours later and I was waking up on the couch. I could only take it if I had no plans of doing anything, or going anywhere all day long.

Does anyone know if they can "move the mirror" so you don't catch a glimpse? I agree...I can watch Discovery Health on tv...but the idea of looking up and seeing my insides really freaks me out.

Yeah, I'd meant to add that in there and I forgot. Honestly, I wasn't even tempted to look for the most part, except when they were taking the baby out. That was kind of neat to see, if you don't count the whole "uterus on the stomach" thing, which is just...well, there are some parts of your own body you aren't meant to ever see!

And the dignity thing is true. I freaked out an orderly after having my first baby because he walked in to pick up my lunch tray when I was nursing my daughter...which equated to being half-exposed, because there's no discreet way to nurse in a hospital gown. He all but covered his eyes and ran away. By that point of the experience I was just totally blasé about any sort of nudity and thought it was silly he reacted the way he did.

It's not a mirror so much as a GIGANTIC stainless steel light fixture with a big bulb in the middle, so I think if they moved it it would make it harder for them to operate on you and cut the right spot. You DEFINITELY don't want that The surface is very reflective, though...not like you see on a stainless steel fridge. I think all you can do is turn your head or have DH put a folded rag over your eyes until right before that baby comes out if you are tempted to look (you know, the train wreck phenomenon).

One more tip: My DH wanted to catch baby's first second in the world on film. As a result, pictures featuring my son hovering over my incision were sent to all our family, friends, and his coworkers. The problem: my incision was so low (where they had shaved) you can't tell I have an incision now. I only found out because one of my friends called and said "girl, did you know your husband has emailed everybody a shot of your hoo-ha?" So embarrassed

Oh man, thank goodness the photos from Esther's birth are all on my computer.

So much info!! Thanks for your support for a VBAC ladies. I just have to say Aphil: Do not have staples. Oh if I had my time over again that would be the one thing I would change. The nurses were a bit shocked at how painful i found them. The pain made it really hard for me to walk.
I still will not let my partner tell me what he saw in the operating theatre. It freaks me out. After they "yanked" dd out the obstetrician had a look for endo. He put his entire hand in my guts and wiggled it about and said to my partner " See, if there was an adhesion here I wouldn't be able to do this" I had to tell him to stop as I felt like a sideshow.
I was most embarrassed when they had to lift me onto the table for surgery. I felt like it would take alot of strength to move me.
The epidural being put in felt like they were injecting into muscle and it felt weird but not overly painful so Aphil, take heart, its over in seconds.
The recovery was the hardest thing ever. I just felt SO sore, this is the number one reason I am trying for a VBAC. After I went through 2 pethidine tube things they had to inject me every few hours as I just hurt so much I was crying. Need I mention the constant references to me being a "big girl" and that I had to walk around. I just couldnt, it killed me to.
I am beginnning to go "crazy" with 5 and a half weeks to go, forgetting everything and buying way too many baby clothes. All the best

Thanks everyone for all of the descriptions and advice. I was actually taking mental notes as I have been reading, and I was actually going to ask my doctor if they would do the sutures, rather than the staples. Having them put in didn't seem to mentally bother me much, but having them taken out after the fact...well, that DID.

GBMM-I had a similar "half exposed" experience with the nursing and hospital gown with my first baby. At the time, my SIL's were teenagers, and they just didn't "think", and they both brought their boyfriends to the hospital while I was in labor. One of them I had only met ONCE! Yeah, this is who I want sitting their staring at me while I am having contractions. Well, they came back the next day and came in unannounced while a nurse was showing me how to operate their huge electric breast pump. Yeah, that'll teach 'em.
With my son though, the hospital I was at actually asked me if I planned to nurse, and they gave me a gown during the birth, and another after, that had a few snaps in the front of it around the armpit to neck area, so that I could actually nurse without taking the entire gown off. It was actually nice!


Ocean Girl-I hope that your VBAC is successful, and everything runs smoothly for you. I hope you come here afterwards and let us know how you are doing.

Staples...Oh my, definitely make it clear you don't want those. I don't know why they are in common use. Staples in your stomach, in my experience, feel exactly like, well, staples in your stomach!

OceanGirl, I hate doctors like that. The surgeon who did my first c-section was the third doctor I had seen over the course of that day. Fourth, if you count the gentleman who gave me my prenatal appointment earlier in the day. I have no idea who he was. One would think that someone about to see my uterus would have the manners to introduce himself! But he didn't say one single word to me. I wasn't a person to him, just a body, I guess.

I read something once about a new doctor coming in and starting to examine or do something to a female patient in a personal area (breast exam, etc.) and her response to him was "Hi, my name is ____, and these are my breasts. And you are???"

Maybe we should all keep that response in mind.

My DH loved the whole experience of seeing the surgery. He acted like he was in med school or something. I was having a hard time with the mirror-like light fixtures when I heard DH say "now what is that she's holding up" to the doctor to which she replied "oh, that's just her uterus." At that point I just had to tell everybody SHUT UP!

My Dh was the same way!!! On a different note, I could not see anything. The lkight they had was more opaque, and I could not see a thing! In fact when they brought the baby for me to see, she was hovering over my head.

Be very vocal about what you want, and if you don't understand open you mouth and ask. These docs can be a little impersonal, but most will explain what is going to happen.

I know when I had both of mine, there is a huge sheet put up around my breasts so I couldn't see anything even if I wanted to. I don't remember there being a mirror above me. At my 2nd one, I didn't realize they had already started cutting me open when they brought my mom in. (Jeff is too much of a wus to be in the OR). The staples didn't really bother me at all.
After my first, I was on a constant morphine drip for about 16 hours. After that I was given percossets every 4 hours so my pain wasn't too bad. With my 2nd, they were out of morphine drips and I was given a demoral drip. I hated. It wasn't as powerful and I was in a bit more pain. Every time I would hit the button to give me an extra dose I would have to mentally prepare myself or it would knock me out and I had to fight it.

As for the nursing, this hospital has the nursing gowns, so it has this little flap thing over the boobs. Of course with my extreme boobage, there is no pretty way to cover it up when you are still strapped to an IV, trying to manuveur the baby to the boob and get situated.

Oceangirl--I wish you the best with your VBAC and I hope it works great for you.